York's ROTHSCHILD & SONS to Receive Cast Recording

The Off-Broadway cast recording of the new Bock and Harnick musical, Rothschild & Sons, an intimate reimagining of the Tony nominated musical The Rothschilds, will be recorded and released by JAY Records. Produced by John Yap, the recording will feature the original cast of The York Theatre Company production who will gather at The Avatar Studios on Monday, October 26, 2015 to lay down the tracks for the recording scheduled for release on JAY Records in early January. Executive Producers are John Yap and Arnold Mittelman.

John Yap started JAY/TER Records in 1980 with a 'live' recording of the revue Nashville, New York (Music by Kurt Weill and Vernon Duke, Lyrics by Ogden Nash) at The King's Head Theatre. London. Even though this was a Fringe production, it is quite clear that the quality of the works is inherent and important to TER/JAY's choice of recordings, a standard that has endured to this day. In over 35 years John has produced hundreds of recordings, including works by Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Loewe, Kander and Ebb, Kurt Weill, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and virtually every significant Broadway and West End writers and composers. In addition to recording Original Broadway Cast, West End Cast, European Cast and Off-Broadway Cast albums, he has worked with and recorded productions by The Royal Opera House, The English National Opera, The D'Oyly Carte Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Chichester Festival Theatre and, in the USA, The Kennedy Center and The Lincoln Center Theatre. John has worked with and recorded many stars from the stage, opera, TV and movies. They include Liza Minnelli, Judi Dench, Jim Dale, Glenn Close, Richard Harris, Thomas Allen, Valerie Masterson, Chita Rivera, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lee, Brian May (of Queen), Cleo Laine, Anthony Newley, Betty Buckley, Sarah Brightman, David Hyde Pierce, John Barrowman, Michael Ball, Elisabeth Welch, Willard White, Patti LuPone, John Houseman, Dora Bryan, Honor Blackman, Natalia Makarova, Julia Migenes, Brian Cox, Pat Suzuki, Ron Raines, Sian Phillips, Elaine Paige, Christian Borle and Carol Channing, among many others. John/JAY Records have a strong and happy relationship with The York Theatre that started in 2002 and together have recorded over 17 Original Cast albums, including Closer Than Ever, The Musical of Musicals, Enter Laughing, Lucky Stiff, Summer of '42, Busker Alley (with Jim Dale and Glenn Close) and John is thrilled to add this recording of Rothschild & Sons to the expanding list. Some recent releases by JAY Records include the first Complete Recording of One Touch of Venus starring Melissa Errico, Ron Raines, Brent Barrett, Victoria Clark and Judy Kaye, The Scottsboro Boys (both Off-Broadway and London Casts), Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Regent Park's Theatre cast). John is current preparing the releases of the first Complete Recording of Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle on 2CDs starring Maria Friedman, John Barrowman, Julia McKenzie and Arthur Laurents and the new John Kander and Greg Pierce musical The Landing with Original Off-Broadway Cast, Complete Recording on 2CDs.

Currently on stage at The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director), in association with Arnold Mittelman and the National Jewish Theater Foundation, is the premiere production of Rothschild & Sons, an intimate one-act reimagining of the Tony nominated musical The Rothschilds, with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Sherman Yellen. The score includes several never-before-heard songs and others newly revised by Mr. Harnick.

Directed by Jeffrey B. Moss, with music supervision and orchestrations by Joseph Church, music direction by Jeffrey Klitz and choreography by Denis Jones, the 11-member cast stars Robert Cuccioli as Mayer Rothschild, and Glory Crampton in the pivotal role of his wife, Gutele, with Peter Cormican, Jonathan Hadley, David Bryant Johnson, Christine LaDuca, Jamie LaVerdiere, Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper, Mark Pinter, Curtis Wiley, and Christopher M. Williams.

Rothschild & Sons launches the York Theatre Company's 2015/16 season with the full involvement of the creators-Sheldon Harnick, Sherman Yellen and the estate of Jerry Bock, an intimate one-act reimagining of the nine-time Tony-nominated musical The Rothschilds (inspired by Frederic Morton's book of the same title). This new version of the musical is the tale of a family fighting for human rights and struggling against extraordinary odds. Sherman Yellen has restructured his original book to focus on the relationships amongst patriarch Mayer Rothschild, his wife Gutele, and their five sons. The score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick includes several never-before-heard songs and others newly revised by Mr. Harnick. A cast of eleven led by Robert Cuccioli will bring to life this musical love story between a father and his sons.

The original Broadway production of The Rothschilds was the last collaboration between Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. The musical opened on Broadway in 1970 and ran for over 500 performances. It received nine Tony Award nominations and garnered Best Actor and Featured Actor awards for Hal Linden and Keene Curtis, respectively. In 1990, an Off-Broadway revival of the show starred Mike Burstyn in the lead role of Mayer Rothschild and Mr. Cuccioli in the role of Nathan Rothschild, the son who ends up figuring prominently in the building of the family's wealth from his position in London.

Rothschild & Sons began performances October 6, 2015 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 8, 2015 at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

For additional information, please visit www.yorktheatre.org.